Welcoming the Year of the Snake with Tallarin Saltado (Stir-fried noodles)

We are welcoming the Year of the Snake in the Chinese Horoscope, by banqueting on one of our favorite foods: Chifa. This kind of cuisine is craved throughout Peru, and is a varied and intensely flavored expression of Peruvian and Chinese fusion. The usual way of eating it is ordering many dishes to share, and excess is always key; so much so, that leftovers are usually good for days or weeks.

The word Chifacomes from the Chinese expression chi fan(to eat rice), and the most famous Chifa dish, arroz chaufa, is a deviation of chow fan (fried rice). In Lima, it’s hard to find a street where one or many of these restaurants are not found, always flashing elaborate Chinese names on the outside (or at least they look elaborate to non-Chinese speakers like us!).

Here’s the recipe for a classic Chifa entree: tallarin saltado. It’s easy to make at home, to turn vegetarian, or to mix and match with other vegetables or meats. But of course, Chifa is always best when you jumble up several preparations in one same dish. So you can start with this recipe, but for a real Chifa experience at home, don’t stop here.